The Perfect Secret

by Rob Buyea

  It also happened to be the first time Gavin got to hang with us after school since his mom had been taken away. She was still in custody, but Gavin got to bring his sister with him to Kids Klub. Mrs. Magenta arranged it. That was cool, but I didn’t really pay attention to his sister. She was little. Before we got done, I was paying attention, because Meggie was the one who showed us what to do.

  “Hey, there’s Robbie,” she said. We’d barely walked through the door at Kids Klub, and she spotted him.

  “You know that boy?” I asked.

  “Yup. Robbie’s in my class. He’s my friend.”

  He was sitting alone again and looked just as miserable as last time. Meggie skipped off in his direction.

  “That kid looks like how I feel,” Gavin said.

  That was another one of those times when I felt like I should say something but had nothing. So we stood there and watched Meggie go and sit down at Robbie’s table, and I swear, that was the first time I saw the boy smile.

  “And your sister just changed that,” I said.

  “That’s Megs for you,” Gavin said, cracking a slight smile.

  “C’mon, let’s go join them.”

  We walked over and sat down. “Hey, little man,” I tried again.

  “Don’t call me that,” he snapped.

  I pulled back. “Sorry.”

  “It’s better than what the bullies call you,” Meggie said.

  “They’re still bothering you?” I asked.

  He wasn’t talking to me.

  “The older boys have been calling him Robbie the Robber,” Meggie said.

  “Are the bullies here?” I asked next.

  Robbie shook his head. I didn’t believe him, but I didn’t push it.

  “Let’s play a game,” Meggie said.

  Gavin shrugged. “What game?”

  “We’ll get one,” Meggie said. She and Robbie ran over to the game cart and came back with Chutes and Ladders.

  “Man, I haven’t played this in forever,” I said.

  Meggie and Robbie got the board set up. Robbie let Meggie go first because, “Girls before boys.” No way I would have done that back in kindergarten. I had to wonder if this little guy already knew more about girls than I did.

  Our game started out quiet, but after four or five rounds, Gavin and I started getting into it. We weren’t necessarily hoping to beat Meggie and Robbie, but we were trying to beat each other. So when I hit one of the bigger slides and took a ride way down the board, Gavin started cheering, and so did Robbie. Seeing the two of them—Robbie especially—whooping and getting excited meant I’d already won. I smiled inside.

  A couple of spins later it looked like Meggie was the one who would reach the top first, but then she landed on the space with the longest slide and slid way back to the beginning.

  “Aww. That stinks,” I said.

  “It’s okay,” Meggie said. “I’ll make it back to the top, just like Mommy is going to make it back home. Just a couple more days. Right, Gavvy?”

  Gavin hesitated, but then he said, “That’s right, Megs. Just a couple more days.”

  What was he supposed to say?

  We took turns flicking the spinner, and wouldn’t you know it, Gavin and I both hit the slides and fell back down to the bottom of the board. Meggie caught up to Robbie after climbing two ladders.

  “Time to say goodbye,” Mrs. Magenta announced.

  “It’s a tie,” Meggie said. Her piece and Robbie’s were sitting on the same square, way ahead of Gavin and me.

  “We kicked your butts,” Robbie said.

  You did, I thought, looking at his happy face—but really we’d both won. “See you next week,” I said.

  “See you next week.”

  Leaving the elementary school, I thought about Meggie’s bold prediction about her getting back to the top of the slide, and how she’d been right. I hoped she was right about her mother, too. We’d find out real soon.

  Mom had been right. There was stuff I still couldn’t remember from before, but it was slowly coming back to me, and I was doing better at remembering what we were learning in school. My brain was getting closer to full speed again.

  My biggest obstacle was going to be final exams because some of those were cumulative, which meant everything from the year was on them. I still had a lot of time before those tests, but I was already starting to review for them. I had to since preparing involved relearning the things I’d forgotten. But I was okay with that. After not being able to read for as long as I was sidelined, I was ready to read anything. And whenever we went to the Senior Center, Grandpa was great at quizzing me on history and science because he knew a lot about that stuff, and the quizzing helped his brain like it did mine. “You’re keeping me young,” he’d say.

  The bad part was the stuff that was boring the first time around was still boring. It takes a special teacher to make the boring stuff interesting. I saw my special teachers after school, not during, which was why my newspaper project was the thing I was really excited about.

  We decided that the best way to highlight our friends at the Senior Center was by getting their full names, dates, and places of birth and any other interesting personal information. And then we interviewed everyone. It was like taking a walk down memory lane, so they could share stories and words of wisdom.

  I could’ve chosen Grandpa, but I already knew a lot about him, and since Gavin was spending afternoons with Meggie these days, interviewing Coach was left up to me. I knew the remembering part might be tricky for Coach, but I didn’t care. I loved his stories. And Grandpa came with me in case Coach or I needed help.

  Coach’s brain was a lot like mine. He had a hard time remembering things. But he also got more confused in his stories than I did, which is where our brains were different. While my brain was getting better, Coach’s wasn’t. He had good days and bad days. Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Magenta, and even Grandpa seemed to always be saying, “You remember…,” and then they’d tell him who or what it was that he was supposed to remember. That worked sometimes but not all the time. Confused or not, Coach always made me feel like he knew what he was talking about, especially if it had to do with football, and especially by the end of his stories. This story time was different, though. It was something I won’t ever forget.

  Coach started telling me about one of his championship games. “I like this story, but I’ve already heard it,” I said. “You told it to me last week.” Really I’d already heard it four times, and each time it was different because Coach got mixed up, but I didn’t tell him that.

  “Is that right?” Coach said. “Then I should tell you about the time our bus was late.”

  I shook my head. “Heard that one, too.”

  “Grrr,” Coach gruffed. “I can’t remember everything I’ve told you.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “You’ve told me lots of your football stories, so is there anything not about football that you can tell me about?”

  Coach got quiet. I waited in case he was thinking, but he stayed quiet. I worried I was losing him. It looked like he was spacing out on me, but he was reminiscing.

  “Junior, there are a few things that happen in a man’s life that are so special, they get lodged in your soul, not your head. No matter how bad my brain gets, I’ll never forget the first time I met Pearl. She was working at an ice cream stand. My heart had never gone all irregular-beating like that. She handed me my cone, and I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t stop looking at her, either, not even when I turned around. Stupid, because I wasn’t watching where I was going and I tripped over a bench and fell in the dirt. Made a fool of myself, but she was smiling. I went for ice cream every day that summer.” Coach laughed to himself.

  I was the one smiling now. Even though this wasn’t football talk, it was one of his best stories.


  “The day we got married made the old ticker go even crazier,” Coach continued. “Boy, she was something.

  “The day my children were born was about the scariest time in my life. Eric came out first, but then Olivia started struggling, her little heart not beating like it was supposed to during the delivery. Hell of a thing when you can’t do anything to help. I just stood there squeezing Pearl’s hand and praying for our baby. And then she popped out hollering herself red, and I cried tears of joy.”

  I was still smiling.

  “And I won’t ever forget the bad feeling I had on the night my son didn’t come home. I can’t explain it, but I knew Eric was gone. I knew before getting the news. I felt it. A part of me died when he left us.”

  My smile faded. I looked at Grandpa, and he nodded. If pain were a sound, I’d have heard it in Coach’s voice when he told me that memory. Not even I knew how to get us past that silence, and that’s saying something. It was good timing that saved us.

  “Time to go,” Mrs. Magenta announced, suddenly appearing in Coach’s room.

  I jumped.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said.

  “Ah, it’s good for him,” Grandpa said. “Keeps him on his toes.”

  Mrs. Magenta walked over and gave Coach a kiss on top of his head. “Bye, Dad,” she whispered. “I’ll see you later.” She turned to me next. “Ready? The bus is waiting.”

  “Bye, Coach. Bye, Grandpa,” I said, giving him a quick hug.

  “You be good. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he said. I grinned. Grandpa told me that every time.

  “You tell Valentine that I expect to see him back here after his mother gets home,” Coach ordered. “He’s got plenty more to learn about football.”

  I glanced at Mrs. Magenta and then Grandpa before looking at Coach. I hadn’t even mentioned Gavin. “Umm, Coach, we don’t know if Valentine’s mom is coming back,” I said, my voice dropping to barely above a whisper because I didn’t like to say that out loud.

  “I know you don’t know, but I do,” Coach exclaimed. “I can’t explain it, but I can feel it.”

  Did Coach know what he was talking about? How could he? It didn’t matter. He had me believing. That’s the power of a great coach.

  “I’ll tell Valentine,” I said.

  Grandpa winked at me, and I hurried out to the bus with Mrs. Magenta.

  NATALIE KURTSMAN

  ASPIRING LAWYER

  Kurtsman Law Offices

  BRIEF #20

  March: The Sweetest Victory

  Father picked me up after school that day. Every so often he did this to give Mother a break, especially when she was swamped with work, but this was not one of those occasions. He was my chauffeur because Mother was with Carla Davids; it was her court date.

  There were several possible explanations for why Mother wasn’t back yet, and I ran each of them over in my head: (1) the day’s court proceedings were running behind schedule, or (2) they were stuck in traffic, or (3) the case had not gone well. I didn’t like the last of those explanations, but it was a possibility that wouldn’t leave me alone. I imagined that Mother was staying with Carla—and saying goodbye.

  As you can see, this was a situation not in my control. Hence, it was the most nerve-racking afternoon of my life. Try as I might, I was futile in my attempts to silence any thought of a negative outcome. Carla Davids being deported was entirely possible—maybe even likely.

  Give credit to Father; he did his best to comfort me. He brought me a cup of hot chamomile tea as I paced the conference room at the office. He assured me that Mother would be back soon, but we both knew he had no way of knowing that.

  I tried distracting myself with homework, but that was useless, too, because I didn’t have many assignments, and what I did have required next to no brain power. I plowed through it in a matter of minutes. There was the newspaper to work on, but that only made me think of my friends and Gavin. I settled on more pacing. Back and forth. Back and forth.

  I’m not entirely sure when it happened, but at some point I began talking to myself. Yes, I do that in my head all the time, but presently I was doing it out loud. As a result I didn’t hear when Mother opened the conference room door. I was walking away from her, but then I hit my designated turnaround spot and did an about-face.

  I stopped. She was standing there—alone. Her face expressionless. Where was Carla? Mother walked to the nearest chair and collapsed into it, closing her eyes. Her body radiated defeat. Where was Carla? I was ready to scream. I was literally standing on my tippy-toes. Where was Carla!

  Mother sighed. “Carla’s home.” She looked at me and smiled.

  Tears sprang from my eyes. I rushed over and hugged her. She cried with me. It was what they call the sweetest victory.

  Father joined us moments later. The hugging was wonderful, but I wanted the full story. Mother gave us the rundown. Lawyer talk, so I won’t bore you with the details. The bottom line: Carla Davids was home.

  I had to let the others know. This called for the emergency phone tree.

  GOALS

  ✓ Resolve the strained relationship between Mrs. Woods and Mrs. Magenta.

  ✓ Keep our plan secret, which requires keeping Scott and the rest of the Recruits quiet—but mainly Scott.

  ✓ Teach Mrs. Davids how to read—and keep our work secret.

  ✓ Nail the bad guys responsible for Scott’s injury.

  ✓ Finish the article on the booster club for Scott.

  ✓ Save Miss Mrs. Carla Davids!

  There had been so much happening lately that Mom and I decided that a quiet girls’ night at home sounded nice. We ordered Japanese from a local restaurant and planned to watch a movie. When we sat down with our food, Mom brought up the topic of April vacation. That was still weeks away, and we never did anything during that break, so I was surprised when she mentioned it.

  “Got any plans?” she asked, dipping her sushi into the soy sauce.

  “No,” I scoffed. I thought she was trying to be funny, but she was being serious.

  “I was thinking we could go somewhere.”

  I took a sip of my bubble tea. “Are you taking me to Disney World?” I was trying to be funny.

  “Um. No.”

  I snapped my fingers. “Shucks.”

  She chuckled, but then she got serious again.

  “Where, then?” I asked.

  “Your father and Kyle want you to spend the week with them.” She stopped eating and waited for my reaction. “You’ll meet Kyle’s mother and his little brother.”

  I finished chewing my noodles and swallowed. “What about you?”

  Mom placed her napkin on the table. “Randi, I need to tell you something.”

  I put my chopsticks down and sat back. I never saw it coming. Not in a million years.

  “I’ve met someone,” Mom said.

  Huh? It took a second for that to register in my brain. My face scrunched. “What do you mean?”

  “Coach Andrea introduced me to a gentleman friend of hers when we were at the Elite Stars Festival. I had dinner with him on the night you spent with Kyle and your father.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I’ve been taking it slow. This is the first man I’ve been interested in since your father.”

  “ ‘Interested in’?” I repeated. “What’s that mean? Like boyfriend-girlfriend?”

  “It means we’ve stayed in touch and I’d like to go see him during April break while you’re with your father.”

  “Mom! Go see him? Doesn’t sound like you’re taking it slow. Who is he? Where does he live? What does he do?”

  “Goodness. Who’s the parent here?”

  “Right now it’s me. What’s his name?”

  “
Jacob. He’s a gym owner. He’s a widower, and he’s very nice,” Mom answered.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this!”

  “I’m sorry. I was worried you’d be upset. Are you?”

  “Upset? Mom, this is great!”

  She smiled.

  “Looks like we’ve got big plans for April,” I said.

  She smiled more. Then the phone rang, and I hopped out of my chair to answer it. Maybe it was Jacob.

  “Hello?” I said into the receiver.

  “Randi, it’s Natalie.”

  “Hi.”

  She was talking fast. Really fast. But I heard her.

  “Randi?”

  I needed a second to let it sink in. I’m not sure if Mom’s news or Natalie’s shocked me more that night. This was big.

  “Randi?”

  “I’ll call Trevor,” I blurted. This was definitely a phone tree emergency.

  “No, I’ll call him,” Natalie said, breaking her own rule. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Good thing she couldn’t see me over the phone, because I smirked. There was no doubt about it: Natalie had a crush on Trevor. “Okay,” I said. I’d give her a hard time later. “Thanks.” I hung up the phone.

  “Ready for our movie?” Mom called from the living room. “I got us a chick flick.”

  I walked in and gave her a hug. Natalie’s news was the kind that made you want to hold your mother. I filled her in, and then we cuddled on the couch and watched our movie.

  Love was in the air, all around me, and I was happy. I just hoped destiny realized that I didn’t need to be in love right now. I’d leave that to Natalie. I could wait. Give it time. Lots of time. Besides, he wasn’t ready.